Have you heard of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling"? A grey duckling feels sad because it believes it looks ugly.
However, one day, the grey duckling grows up and transforms into a beautiful white swan, making it happy. In fact, the protagonist of the story is not a duckling, but a little swan. Of course, in theory, the swan belongs to the duck family, so it is still a duck.
Swans are symbols of beauty and purity, given their white, noble, and pure appearance, as well as their beautiful, slender necks. That's why the term "swan's neck" is used to describe a person with a long and beautiful neck.
Europeans did not believe in the existence of black swans until 1697 when Wilhelm Flamin, a Dutchman, discovered them in Western Australia. Since then, black swans have also become synonymous with unknown, unpredictable, or low-probability events.
Because of their beautiful appearance, swans also imply arrogance. People sometimes call a self-conscious person a "haughty swan." In the Middle Ages, the German word "swan" was written the same way as it is in English today.
Speaking of the Middle Ages, imagine that you are walking through a medieval European city, and you see two beautiful golden swans in front of an old building. The sight must have struck you as romantic because swans are a symbol of everlasting love. Why is that so? When two swans look at each other, their necks bend into the shape of a heart.
Another important reason is that swans are faithful to only one partner for the rest of their lives. Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), a German Romantic painter, expressed this theme in his work "Swan in the Reeds" (1819/20). He created this work a year after his marriage, newly married, and in love with his young wife.
Most critics, therefore, consider this painting a symbol of love. In fact, there is another interpretation of this work. According to an ancient Greek legend, the swan would make a poignant call before dying, known as the "swan song."
So, people also call the final work of a great musician or writer the swan song. In this painting, we can also interpret it not as love but as a scene of a dying swan saying goodbye to its partner in the darkness.
Let's bring our thoughts back to the two golden swans. They are not looking at each other but at each other's backs. What is the meaning behind this? Purity, beauty, pride, love, the unknown, music, or something else?
The two swans standing back from each other obviously have different meanings. How can a pure swan have such contrasting meanings? In fact, we should not be too surprised because, in Greek mythology, the swan symbolizes desire.
In fact, Helen, like the ugly duckling in the fairy tale, hatched from a goose's egg. Now we are finally back to the beginning of the story: the swan and its multiple meanings.
